So, the party...!
As I mentioned it was a 'pamper' theme.
The reason - I'm that Mum who pretty much always says 'no' to painted nails and things I feel are going to make my girls grow up too fast.
For once I wanted to be the person saying 'Yes' not 'No'!
Yep, sad I know!
Also it's their birthday - the party is meant to be something special - and they couldn't decide what to do/have so when I offered them this they nearly jumped on me saying "yes please!"
The decorations:
Thanks to good old Martha Stewart for the paper flowers idea.
They hung in clusters, artfully arranged by the lovely man of the house, from the roof of our covered deck.
Signs of direction, welcome and advice (Eat, Drink, Be Merry over the food table) were printed onto pink paper.
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| Both cakes from the original Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book! |
After MUCH deliberation the girls went for the Sweet Shop...
Possibly the two easiest cakes I have made - and both with the same colour icing (though it doesn't appear that way from these pics!).
The activities:
Two parties in one really.
Each girl invited eight friends so we had Team A and Team L.
On arrival everyone had a glass of pink fizzy drink in a plastic champagne flute with a strawberry on it and a paper cocktail umbrella, the girls loved this!
Then one group went outside on the deck and had their toe and fingernails painted by the marvellous Claire, while being entertained by a fabulous fellow school mum.
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| The birthday girls got jewels added to their nails as well as wearing a pink feather boa! |
We fed them while they waited and their foot soaking basins were topped up with warm water as needed.
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| Of course this kid got in on the action! |
Claire brought all the nail-polishes, basins, towels and necessary equipment with her and treated the girls like princesses.
Having two-year-old twin girls of her own she may also have got a glimpse of her future!!
(If you are in Melbourne and want Claire's details for a party just email me or leave a comment, you won't be disappointed).
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| Feeling very much like the Princess! |
I know I am not the only parent who is cautious about all things 'grown-up' for little girls so with the invitation I mentioned to all parents that we planned to paint fingers and toes and asked if they were not happy with this to let me know and we would arrange an alternative activity, but no-one did.
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| Of course they all chose pale and sultry colours.... NOT!! |
They then chose and glued on the flowers for their snap clips.
After this they played some musical statues while they waited to swap over.
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| Can you tell blue is her new favourite colour?? |
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| Tricky business this gluing! |
There was plenty of time for the girls to hang out with their friends - because in the past they have said how they didn't have time to 'play' with their friends - so this was accounted for this time.
They also had time to unwrap their gifts with their guests - which I think is a nice thing to do - so the guests see them enjoying what they have selected for them.
Not sure what the 'etiquette" is around this though...
Then they blew out the candles - we took some group photos and everyone went home.
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| One stubborn candle! |
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| Her new toy is tucked under her arm! |
My girls agreed, so that's all I need to hear.
Next up - the outfits!!
5 comments:
What a great party Karen. Just seeing the cakes brought back memories of my childhood. My mum made me the swimming pool cake for one of my birthdays.
Hi Karen,
I can so relate to the Mum who always says no. My attempt to compensate for this is to (grit my teeth...) let Madeleine have a slumber party this year. I think I may pinch some of your ideas - your girls look like they had a fabulous time.
So far as the etiquette of opening gifts - I think children get to a certain age where they develop the social graces to open gifts in front of others and it is a lovely thing to do, but when Pip turned 4 last year I am so glad it was only family around when she opened her presents. No rudeness, but there was a certain blunt practicality in some of her comments that I could giggle about, but I am sure would not have been so funny if others were around...
pink ..... pamper ...... pleasure ....perfect party!!
This looks like so much fun. I will have to book mark the idea for a few years until Possum is old enough :)
I like the approach of - it's fine when done in a ridiculous manner, but not when it's to be adult. Feather boas, huge hats, cool; hot pants that say "juicy" on the bottom, not so much. When I was teaching high school, a few of the girls would wear rather heavy and quite skilfully applied makeup to look more mature, which bothered me (this was a Catholic school!), but one put on basically Mardi Gras makeup (bright green and purple eye shadow, rainbow nails, etc.) - that didn't disturb me at all, as it was basically the same as a kid playing with finger paints. (Unlike some of her "fast" classmates, this girl is still a lovely and wholesome young lady who just likes to play dress-up, several years later.)
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